Easter – The Cross & the Resurrection

Easter Sunday Service

Theme: Exonerated & Exalted 3

Topic: Easter – The Cross & the Resurrection

Text: Matthew 27:11-50

Sunday 9 April, 2023

Introduction. The story of Easter is the story of every believer. It is the story from the cross to the resurrection. It depicts the path every believer will have to pass, from the lower place of life to the high place of success. The Cross represents suffering, pain, denial, etc. but after this comes the Resurrection, the place of lifting and triumph.

The 3 levels of this process are;

The Suffering of Christ.
The Death of Christ.
The Triumph of Christ.

Thus, each of this stages communicates different things to the believer

The suffering of Christ

This stage was primarily design to show us the consequence of sin, because Christ played the role of the sinner, so He suffered as a sinner. The accusation against Him were among others, claiming to be the Son of God, and saying He will rebuild the temple in 3 days, he was sentenced to death by the cross: a death meant only for the most violent crime, but was meted on Christ.

Scriptural references: Hebrew 2:10, 5:8, Romans 6:23, Ezekiel 18:4

The Death of Christ

This was designed to take away sin, John 1:29. Thus, there’s no remission of sin without the shedding of blood. So Christ accepted death by the cross, to adequately fulfilled every demand of sin and redemption. Just as it was done in the Old Testament, the blood of animals were used, this time Christ has to be used to make it permanent.

Scriptural references: Hebrews 9:11-22, Hebrews 10:1-18, John 11:49-52, Matthew 16:21, 1 John 2:1-2, 4:10.

The Triumph of Christ

This stage is to show how the believer will end. We were designed to end in glory and triumph over every situation or circumstance. No trouble pain, hardship, sickness, failure is to stop a believer, they are all temporal. Our end is a lifting from the lower place of life to the higher places.

Scriptural references, Romans 8:31-39, 1 Corinthians 4:16-18, Colossians 1:27, 2:11-15, Matthew 28:6.

Conclusion. Easter is the glory and strength of the believer. We were meant to copy Christ in every way; His love, meekness, humility, gentleness, quietness, patience in affliction, and triumphant at the end, [Isaiah 28:12, 30:15].